Mandaluyong shooting survivor: Police did not listen to our plea we were innocent

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 29) — The police did not listen to the plea of the victims in the deadly Mandaluyong City shooting incident, a survivor recounted on Friday.

Survivor Mhury Jamon described how the police and barangay officials from Addition Hills continued to fire at them on late Thursday night despite their explanation they were bringing a shooting victim to a hospital.

[Translation: The police asked us to go down. They shot at us because they thought our colleagues did not want to exit the car. The police, when they see the subjects not following orders, they will open fire. But they did not know the subjects cannot go down.]

[Translation: We, of course, can't blame our police officers for initially thinking that there really was someone armed in the car. There was a shooting incident and that was what the barangay fed to them. That there was an armed person in the Adventure.]

On Thursday night, barangay officers fired at a white Mitsubishi Adventure on Shaw Boulevard that was reported to be carrying the gunman of a prior shooting in Barangay Addition Hills in Mandaluyong.

However, now-sacked Mandaluyong police chief Senior Supt. Moises Villaceran said they found out the van's passengers were helping Ambaon and were rushing her to a hospital.

[Translation: Allegedly while chasing the van, the barangay tanod was also shooting them. So, the police was alarmed and we conducted a dragnet operation to corner the suspect, not knowing that this was not the suspect's vehicle.]